Ramdas Boat Disaster

The transportation from Mumbai to Rewas has been ongoing for a long time. Services like the fast-moving Ro-Ro are available today, but there used to be large boats like Ramdas, which was of foreign make. Many people from Alibag and the Konkan region travel to Mumbai for work. Among them, some go for regular business purposes, while others go to visit their relatives.

17th July 1947. Due to the occasion of Deep Amavasya, many people took a holiday in Mumbai. It was a rainy day. Many people started traveled from Mumbai to Alibag and the Konkan region. As per the regular schedule, the Ramdas, a large boat, left Mumbai’s Bhau’s Dock for Rewas at 9 o’clock in the morning. It was raining slightly. This boat was so massive that passengers couldn’t even think of any mishap happening to it. The boat left Bhau’s Dock. It would have covered a distance of 8 to 9 miles, and suddenly the weather changed. The boat was hit by a squall, and some noticed that the boat tilted. There were very few life jackets available, and some people had to put them on. The boat got hit by a big wave & started sinking. Here from Rewas Dock, some fishermen started for fishing towards Mumbai. As they were moving, they noticed several people floating in the sea. Some were seen waving for help. They managed to rescue as many people as they could, and some lives were saved. Until 2 or 3 in the afternoon, this news did not reach the shore, but until then, around 800 people had lost their life. About twenty years ago, two more boats, Jayanti and Tukaram, sinked nearby.

Many of the people affected by this tragedy were residents of Konkan. Alibag, along with the entire Konkan region, was plunged into deep sorrow. This was the first major and catastrophic incident in the history of India in the coastal disaster. The aftermath of this incident continued for several months. Even after 77 years have passed since this event, some elderly individuals in this area still remember this incident vividly.